


Cooldown

by ericsonclan



Series: We are Monsters, We are Proud AU [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Aasim and Ruby try to figure out a way they can safely hold hands as a fire elemental and a dryad.
Relationships: Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: We are Monsters, We are Proud AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699969
Kudos: 9





	Cooldown

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

_“C’mon, Aasim, you can do this! You just gotta get out of your own head!”_ Ironic advice considering it came from his inner voice. Aasim rolled his head round in a slow circle before resuming his yoga stance, legs crossed beneath him, hands resting open on his knees. He could see a red flame licking the edge of his hand. Well, that was something at least; his flames were no longer blue. Thinking about Ruby usually turned his entire body blue, so being down to the normal red flames of any fire elemental was an accomplishment in itself.

Sadly, it wouldn’t be enough to allow him to hold his girlfriend’s hand without burning her. What a cruel twist of fate for him to fall in love with a dryad! The most beautiful being in the world wanted to date _him_ and he couldn’t so much as touch the tip of her pinky, let alone ki-

 _“Crap, that was a mistake!”_ His entire body was burning a bright blue once more. An entire lunch break wasted on breathing exercises and meditation with nothing to show for it. Aasim sighed, grabbing his sack lunch of coals, hay and oil to eat on the way back to class. He’d wanted so badly to surprise Ruby after school today, to walk up to her and suavely reach for her hand as if it were nothing. But that was a fool’s dream. Training his body to cool down to a manageable degree was a task that would require months of discipline, if it was even possible at all. 

\---

“Aasim!” Ruby’s voice echoed through the hallways as she scurried over to her boyfriend. She came to a skittering halt in front of him.

“My sweet,” Aasim replied, giving her a melancholic smile. “How was your day?”

“I have big news!” Ruby declared before her face fell as she noticed his malaise. “Aaw, sweetie, what’s wrong?”

Aasim let out a shaky sigh. He hated that there were little cinders pricking at the corner of his eyes. Most people wouldn’t recognize them as tears, but Ruby had studied enough on flame elementals to recognize them. “I tried meditation today. I was hoping if I could just calm down enough that we could finally, y’know, hold hands. But no luck,”

Ruby extended her hand toward his shoulder, stopping about a foot away before mimicking a sympathetic shoulder rub. “I’m sorry you’re feelin’ down, but what I’m about to tell you will brighten you right up!” She extended her other hand, revealing a glass container full of some sort of blueish gel. “Go on, you can take it. The glass is flame-proofed.

Aasim took the proffered jar, turning it around in his hands in curiosity. “What do we have here?”

“I got it from Sarah. You know, the nereid in my Herbology class? It’s cooling gel. She says its super powerful and’ll keep anything from sparking up,”

“While, I appreciate the thought, manufactured cooling gel-”

“Oh, it ain’t manufactured! It’s from her. You know, secreted out of her-”

“Oh god!” Aasim cried in disgust, dropping the jar.

Ruby caught it with a startled yelp. “From her _gills_ , Aasim! Y’know, the ones on her neck? Good Lord, who knew I’d find myself dating such a pervert?”

“Sorry. It’s just when you said 'secretion', I just thought…” Aasim shivered. “Anyway, moving on. Has it been tested out on flame elementals before?”

“Not really. I mean, your kind is pretty rare, so there hasn’t been the chance. But I figure it’s worth a shot though. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Burns, Ruby. Third degree burns all over your hand. I couldn’t bear to hurt you,”

“Well, we’ll just take it slow then. If I feel too much heat coming from your hand, I’ll pull away lickety split!”

God, he loved this Southern dryad and her weird country sayings.

“Ok, then. You’re right, it is worth a try,”

They found a quiet corner of the school garden to conduct the experiment in, then took turns dipping their hands into the jar and slathering the blue goop along one of their arms, all the way from the tips of their fingers to their shoulders just to be safe. Aasim noted how the flames which covered his skin flickered out along his arm, exposing the coal black dermis of his actual skin, but not causing any sort of pain or discomfort. It really was impressive. He and Ruby looked at each other, then slowly extended their hands, inching ever closer to each other. Aasim’s eyes searched Ruby’s. She didn’t seem to be hiding any sort of pain or discomfort as their hands approached each other. Could this really work?

At last their hands touched, pinkies gently brushing against each other before their fingers cautiously interlocked, producing an audible squish as the gel squelched between them. They were touching. Really touching for the first time ever. This was a miracle! Aasim felt his heart soaring within him. Ruby’s hand was just as soft and supple as he’d ever imagined. Tentatively, as though fearing he’d break the glorious spell, his thumb ran along the outside of her wrist. It was magical, being able to touch her like this.

Their eyes lifted to meet each other, and the look of pure love and adoration in Ruby’s eyes had Aasim’s chest feeling like it was about to burst. He did in fact burst, flames leaping dramatically from every part of him due to the adrenaline rush. They pulled apart with terrified cries, falling onto the grass in opposite directions.

Aasim immediately leapt up. “Did I hurt you?” he asked, eyes wide with fear.

Ruby was sitting up, holding her gel-covered hand. “Actually, you didn’t. You sure gave me a scare there with that fiery explosion, but look,” she wiggled her fingers happily. “They’re still all here. And your hand didn’t flame up either,”

Aasim looked at the gelled hand in astonishment. Even with that sudden outburst, the flames hadn’t sparked up on his hand at all. This gel was a miracle twice over! He let out a cry of joy, spinning around as he clung to his arm in disbelief. “It works! It really works!”

“It works!” Ruby cheered, clapping in glee. “I’ll be sure to ask Sarah for more of this gel ASAP. It’s astonishing!”

“Yes, definitely! Just imagine the possibilities! If we had enough of this stuff, we could hug, we could dance, we could even…” Aasim’s voice trailed off, his eyes locked on his girlfriend’s pretty green lips.

Ruby chastely blushed, looking away.

Aasim cleared his throat awkwardly. “For now, I think it’s safe to declare this nereid gel a huge success! Future experiments will continue as we see fit,”

“Sounds good,” Ruby patted the grass beside her, looking up at him shyly. “Now come take a load off and let’s get back to some hand-holding,”

“With pleasure,” Aasim plopped down beside his girlfriend, taking her hand in his once more. Against all odds, this really had turned out to be one of the best days ever.


End file.
